Hemp-gleaner



(No Model.)

J. J. HAWKINS. HEMP CLEANER.

No. 427,763. Patented May 13, 18901.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

JOHN J. HAWTKINS, OF NEVARK, ASSIGNOR TO ALBERT ANGELL, OF EAST ORANGE,NEWT JERSEY.A

HEM P-CLEAN ER.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,763, dated May 13,1890i.

Application letl September 30, 1889. Serial No. 325,573. (No model.)

To all 1071.077?, t may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. HAWKINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Hemp-Oleaners, fully described andrepresented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention consists, partly, in the combination, with a rotarybeater, of feeding-rolls adjacent to a breaking-bar and a series ofcleaning-slats moved by suitable means in contact with a yielding apronin proximity to the breaking-bar, by which combination the stalks ofhemp are broken and the wood stripped off.

It also consists in the combination, with the same mechanism, of abreaking-bar arranged at the opposite side of the beater and providedwith a drag-apron to rest upon the beater, by which construction thehemp may be cleaned upon the opposite side of the machine from that inwhich it is broken to iinally nish it.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan of an apparatus embodying myinvention, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal vertical section of the same withthe nearer frame removed.

a is the frame; l), the rotary beater having transverse slats Z2 at theends or periphery of the rotating beater-arms.

g is a breaker-bar arranged at one side of the beater, and c c arefeeding-rolls adjacent to the breaking-bar and` adapted to deliver thehemp-stalks over the bar into the path of the beater.

t is a feed-table adjacent to the feed-rolls. The lower feed-roll isdriven by pulleys p and belt p from the shaft of the beater' b, and theupper roll is arranged to play loosely in open bearings c2, so as torest upon the stalks by its weight only. With this construction the rollyields very freely to the irregular thickness of a mass of stalks.

Under the feed-rolls an auxiliary cleaner is provided, being formed withcircular heads d and transverse slats or rubbers e, and a lieXible apron72, made of leather or canvas, is attached to the brcaker-bar g andarranged to rest upon the top of the cleanerslats e.

Vith this construction the stalks, broken at' leys 0 and belt o', whilethe feeding-rolls c run at a much slower speed. The broken hemp, bentdownward over the bar g, is therefore caught by the cleaner and draggedbeneath the apron h, against which it is pressed and rubbed by therapidly-moving slats e and cleaned of its wood and pith in aconsiderable degree. The cleaner also operates to deliver the hemp fromthe breaking apparatus when the rear ends of the stalks have passedthrough the rolls c c', the front ends of the stalks being previouslydelivered by the cleaner beneath the end of the apron 7L, so that theymay be grasped by the operator to remove the broken hemp and subject itto further treatment. v

A cleaning device, to finish the cleaning of the hemp, is provided atthe opposite side of the same machine in a breaking-bar Z, arrangedclose to the path of the beaterslats b', with a dragapron m attached toit and eX- tended over the top of the beater. s is a feedtable adjacentto the bar Z. A curved shield n is shown in Fig. 2, arranged over theapron m, to prevent the latter from being thrown out of operation by therapid rotation of the beater in contact therewith. By providing anoperator at each side of the machine the hemp may be broken and cleanedcontinuously, as the operator who removes the hemp from the rubbers emay lay it upon the top of the shield n, from which it can be readilyremoved by the other operator and subjected to the action of the beateradjacent to the breaker Z. This" is done by laying the broken hemp upona table s beneath the breaker Z and pushing the hemp forward against thcslats b. As the dragapron m presses freely upon the rapidly-rotatingbeater, the hemp is then subjected to a violent rubbing and beatingbetween the beater and such apron. The

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operator, after subjecting one half the len gth of the hemp fiber tosuch filial cleaning operation, reverses it and subjects the other endof the fibers to a similar treatment, which reduces the hemp to a massof soft clean fibers ready t'or use.

Vith my construction the slats b of the beater perform one function incombination with the bar g and a Wholly different one in combinationwith the apron m. In like manner the cleaner-slats e perform thefunction of cleaning the stalks When broken by the slats b', and alsooperate to guide the ends of the fiber within reach of the operatorshands, so that he may grasp it before the rear ends of the stalks aredelivered from the feed-rolls.

Having thus set forth my invention, What I claim herein isl. In ahemp-cleaner, the combination, with a rotary beater, of a breaking-barand feeding-rolls arranged adjacent thereto, a cleaner with slats orrubbers moving` adjacent to the breaking-bar, and a yielding,` apronresting` upon such slats or rubbers, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The hemp-cleaner consisting in the revolving' beater Z), thebreaking-bars g and Z, arranged at its opposite sides, the drag-aprons7L and fm, attached to such bars, feed-rolls adjacent to the bar g, anda cleaner With slats or rubbers rotated in Contact With the apron 7L,the Whole arranged and operated substantially as herein set forth.

3. The hemp-cleaner consisting in the revolving` beater h, thebreaking-bars g and Z, arranged at its opposite sides, the drag-aprons hand m, attached to such bars, a lower feedroll rotated positivelyadjacent to the breaking-bar g, an upper feed-roll resting mereljT byits Weight upon the same, and a cleaner with slats or rubbers rotatingin contact with the apron h, the Whole arranged and operatedsubstantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set `my hand inthe presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

JOHN J. HAWKINS. Witnesses:

ALEX. MCLAREN, Trios. S. CRANE.

